I have a really good one called 'The Mongrel' by Thomas Hardy, which would work really well. What about 'A Case of Murder' by Vernon Scannell? Ifyou leave an email address, I will gladly forward the texts of the poems.

Reynard's Last Run (sorry -can't remember who wrote it) is good - could perhaps spark/follow on from a debate about fox hunting. Or what about McCafferty (probably wrong title - the one by T S Elliot)? Would The Raven count?

How about Blakes Tyger Tyger - my low abilty class loved this. I got them to use the poem to draw pictures and annotate with quotes. I also used a poem to compare it to - 'Tiger' can't remember who wrote it - will find out at work tomoz and post. I also have some poetry books at school - A poem for evryday of the year, Ted Hughes Animal poetry and others - will look through them tomorrow

Hey thanks very much pheobe Sorry about the confusion with my email, i didn't even know it was .co.uk lol. I could only open the A Case of Murder poem though, not sure if i was meant to be able to open the other too(?) They came up as POD files or something :-S

Anna - thats great about Teg Hughes! And sooo wierd lol. I did his Torto story with my class today and that was by Hughes! Great that you've put me onto his poetry, thank you

Tyger by blake describes a tiger in its natural habitant full of vibrant colour etc ... Michaela's ppoem describes what man has done to the natural world and it's inhabitants, how we are draining the life from one of the most georgous creatures on the planet (my favourite animal happens to be the tiger!!) - it shows what can change over a short period of time and serves as a warning- it's great to use in debates - you can get pupils to write letters about endangered animals, research and create leaflets loads of extension activities from this

Hope it helps - look at the rhyming scheme and use of visual imagery in both poems.